Hulu had a laundry list of announcements at its 2016 upfront presentation Wednesday morning, beginning with the renewals of original series “The Mindy Project” and “The Path.” The SVOD service also ordered a Triumph the Insult Comic Dog election special, as well as a virtual reality series with Live Nation, which will take music fans closer than ever to concert stages.
Plus, Hulu announced its acquisition of Ron Howard‘s “The Beatles: Eight Days a Week,” which will kick off the efforts of its new arm, Hulu Documentary Films.
The company also shared information on new partnerships with Brightline, a digital viewership measurement system through Nielsen and Millward Brown initiatives, and new brand integration deals with Goose Island Beer and Lexus.
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Finally, the streaming service stated that its subscriber base has grown more than 30 percent year over year, and will reach 12 million subs in the U.S. this month.
“Over the past year, we’ve propelled Hulu by adding an extraordinary array of original series, hit broadcast and cable shows and blockbuster movies to our content portfolio — all of which has led to incredible growth in subscribers and engagement,” Hulu CEO Mike Hopkins said in his general remarks.
“In 2016, we’re going even bigger and bolder. We’ll expand our offering with more premium content and brand new ad measurement products that will continue to make Hulu the leader in choice for seamless entertainment and advertising experiences.”
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The following press releases are all in Hulu’s own words. This post will be updated as the morning’s upfront session continues.
Hulu Launches Hulu Documentary Films with Highly-Anticipated Documentary “The Beatles: Eight Days A Week” from Director Ron Howard
Hulu has secured the exclusive streaming video on-demand rights to Academy Award Winner Ron Howard‘s feature documentary “The Beatles: Eight Days A Week” (working title). Featuring rare and exclusive footage, the film is produced with the full cooperation of Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono Lennon and Olivia Harrison. White Horse Pictures’ Grammy Award-winning Nigel Sinclair, Scott Pascucci and Academy Award-winner and multiple nominee Brian Grazer of Imagine Entertainment are producing with Howard. Apple Corps Ltd’s Jeff Jones and Jonathan Clyde are serving as executive producers, along with Imagine’s Michael Rosenberg and White Horse’s Guy East and Nicholas Ferrall.
Award-winning Editor Paul Crowder is the editor. Crowder’s long-time collaborator, Mark Monroe, is serving as writer. Marc Ambrose is a supervising producer.
Debuting in theaters and on Hulu this fall, “The Beatles: Eight Days A Week” is based on the first part of The Beatles’ career (1962-1966) – the period in which they toured and captured the world’s acclaim. Ron Howard‘s film will explore how John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr came together to become this extraordinary phenomenon, “The Beatles.” It will explore their inner workings – how they made decisions, created their music and built their collective career together – all the while, exploring The Beatles’ extraordinary and unique musical gifts and their remarkable, complementary personalities. The film will focus on the time period from the early Beatles’ journey in the days of The Cavern Club in Liverpool to their last concert at Candlestick Park in San Francisco in 1966.
“The Beatles: Eight Days A Week” marks the first documentary feature to premiere exclusively on Hulu following its theatrical run and comes to Hulu in the company’s first-ever licensing deal with Apple Corps Ltd. The film will be the first to launch under the new Hulu Documentary Films arm, which will serve as a new home for premium original and exclusive documentary film titles coming to Hulu.
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Hulu to Bring Interactive Advertising Into the Living Room in New Partnership with BrightLine
Hulu has partnered with BrightLine, a leader in dynamic, interactive advertising, to be the first streaming service to deliver first-to-market interactive advertising units built exclusively for the living room. The announcement was made today by Hulu’s SVP of Advertising Sales, Peter Naylor.
Together, Hulu and BrightLine will offer a highly-engaging and convenient advertising experience that is built exclusively for connected TVs. Havas Media, a leader in global marketing, will be the exclusive charter agency for the new product. The new interactive ad units will launch on Hulu this summer.
“Hulu offers brands the most effective way to reach the streaming audience, at scale, in the living room,” said Hulu SVP of Advertising Sales, Peter Naylor. “The partnerships we’ve announced today with Nielsen, Millward Brown and BrightLine point to the future of television and everything that’s possible in a connected TV environment — and we are happy to be leading the way in both creativity and measurement.”
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Hulu Delivers New Measurement Tools for Advertisers through Partnerships with Nielsen and Millward Brown
Today, Hulu revealed a new collaboration with Nielsen that will enable digital ad measurement through Nielsen Digital Ad Ratings to capture OTT viewing in the living room environment for the first time ever. This will be the first comprehensive ad measurement solution to debut across living room platforms from Roku and PlayStation to Xbox and Apple TV and all Hulu-enabled living room devices. Through the collaboration, Hulu will have the capability to deliver the accurate measurement of viewership beyond the PC for advertisers on a campaign level basis.
In addition, Hulu announced it will begin to provide increased advertising effectiveness insights and tools through a new partnership with multinational market research firm, Millward Brown. The partnership will deliver studies, research papers and stats including brand affinity metrics for marketers and advertisers that will span across over-the-top viewing environments. Magna Global, the strategic global investment and intelligence unit of IPG Mediabrands, with clients including Arby’s, Aveeno, BMW, Coca-Cola, Dunkin’ Donuts, FCA US LLC and IHOP will be beta partners at launch in this groundbreaking initiative for Hulu.
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Hulu Expands Originals Slate and Confirms New Election Special from Triumph, the Insult Comic Dog
Hulu has picked up critically acclaimed drama series “The Path” for a second season, as well as comedy series “The Mindy Project” for season five.
Since its premiere on Hulu in March, “The Path” has drawn acclaim from critics and fans. Stars Aaron Paul, Michelle Monaghan and Hugh Dancy took to the stage at Hulu’s Upfront presentation today to reveal that Hulu has officially greenlit the series for a second season order. “The Path” comes to Hulu from Universal Television and Jason Katims‘ True Jack Productions. The show was created by Jessica Goldberg who also wrote and executive-produced the series, along with Katims and Michelle Lee of True Jack Productions. The series follows a family at the center of a controversial cult as they struggle with relationships, faith and power. The finale episode of season one will air May 25 and all past episodes are available to stream on Hulu.
After ordering season four of “The Mindy Project,” the comedy series from best-selling Author and Creator Mindy Kaling has continued to garner acclaim and captivate fans on Hulu. Today, Hulu SVP and Head of Content Craig Erwich, alongside Mindy Kaling, announced that Hulu has officially picked up the series for a fifth season.
“The Mindy Project” is a single-camera comedy series created by and starring Emmy-nominated writer/producer and New York Times best-selling author Mindy Kaling that follows a skilled OB/GYN navigating choppy waters of both her personal and professional life. The series also stars Chris Messina, Ed Weeks, Ike Barinholtz, Beth Grant, Xosha Roquemore and Fortune Feimster. From 3 Arts Entertainment in association with Universal Television, “The Mindy Project” is executive produced by Kaling, Howard Klein, Matt Warburton, Charlie Grandy and Michael Spiller.
In addition, Hulu announced a second election special from Triumph, the Insult Comic Dog that will debut exclusively on the service later this year. Following the success of “Triumph’s Election Special 2016,” Robert Smigel will return as the voice and creator of Triumph, the Insult Comic Dog for a brand new special that will be premiere just in time for the election.
“Triumph’s Election Special,” “The Mindy Project” and “The Path” join Hulu’s growing original programming slate, which includes drama series “Shut Eye,” “Chance” and “The Handmaid’s Tale.”
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Today, Hulu is excited to announce that it has partnered with Live Nation to bring music fans a specially curated virtual reality concert performance series from today’s most popular artists that will transform how fans experience live music and performances.
Live Nation’s content in the Hulu VR app will immerse fans in the visual and auditory excitement of a live, virtual performance. Fans will hang backstage with their favorite artists before the show, experience the intensity of walking on stage as the crowds cheer and get the best seat in the house for the beginning of the performance
“Concert performances lend themselves well to virtual reality and Hulu is proud to support this VR initiative where we will viscerally capture the energy an artist brings to their fans during performances,” said Noah Heller, Vice President of Partnerships and Emerging Technology, Hulu. “This partnership reshapes the way fans can interact with their favorite artists with unprecedented access through Live Nation.”
“Live Nation is dedicated to bringing the live entertainment experience to fans in new and innovative ways,” said Jordan Zachary, Chief Strategy Officer, Live Nation. “No medium has the potential to bring the magic of a live concert to life more than virtual reality. We are excited to work with Hulu to bring fans closer than ever to the biggest artists and tours in the world.”
Since launching the VR app in March Hulu has continued work and progress in the VR space and has added 6 pieces of additional virtual reality content, including a VR piece featuring the Hulu Original “The Path,” as well as content from partners like TheirWorld and RYOT.
The Hulu app is available for the Samsung Gear VR with additional platforms to come soon. Additional details around timing of Live Nation’s VR content as well as artists featured will be announced at a later date.
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Hulu is pleased to announce that is has partnered with leading brands Goose Island Beer Company and Lexus to creatively integrate the brand’s products into its hit Original Series “Casual” and “The Mindy Project.”
“Casual” earned Hulu its first Golden Globe nomination for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy. For season two, Goose Island Beer Company is integrated seamlessly into the storyline. Goose Island IPA is Alex’s (Tommy Dewey) beer of choice.
Lexus stepped in this year in support of “The Mindy Project.” Mindy’s newly redesigned Lexus RX delivers her and her friends to a quick getaway from the city as they make a special trip to Mindy’s alma mater Princeton.
“Hulu has always been a place for brands to engage with viewers beyond just :15 and :30 second creative spots,” said Peter Naylor, SVP Sales at Hulu. “With our integrations we want to offer ways for brands to reach audiences that is seamless and natural to the storylines of our Original series.”
Hulu leads the industry in cutting edge custom creative and choice-based advertising formats and provides multiple ways for advertisers to connect with their audiences. Ads on Hulu are extremely effective and often result in higher brand recall than broadcast or other online video.
Created by Zander Lehmann, Golden Globe nominated “Casual” is executive produced by Jason Reitman, Zander Lehmann, Helen Estabrook, and Liz Tigelaar. “Casual” is a Lionsgate TV and Right of Way production.
“The Mindy Project” is a single-camera comedy series created by and starring Emmy-nominated writer/producer and New York Times best-selling author Mindy Kaling that follows a skilled OB/GYN navigating the tricky waters of both her personal and professional life. The series also stars Chris Messina, Ed Weeks, Ike Barinholtz, Beth Grant and Xosha Roquemore.
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